This invention relates to a small, compact data recorder capable of retaining data from a plurality of sensors.
Portable recorders for retaining data from various sensors have been used for many years. One well known recorder is the so-called `black box` recorder carried by commercial and other aircraft. These devices record certain critical data and may be of use in setting maintenance schedules, or in the event of a crash, to assist in determining the cause thereof. Some data recorders use magnetic tape while others use solid-state storage devices. This type of portable recorder, however, is usually too large and heavy to be used to collect data from small vehicles, anatomical dummies and the like.
Gathering the data that is generated by various sensors on smaller vehicles or objects has been done in the past by using either an umbilical cable or radio telemetry. Clearly, an umbilical cable imposes severe restrictions on mobility, and radio telemetry is subject to loss of data due to radio interference, misalignment of antennas or extremes in the test environment.